The Princess And The Alpha *Excerpt Only*

Day Drunk

"I've never been drunk at all and now you expect me to get intoxicated before lunch." I grumbled, childishly turning away from the bottles Ryan had set on the table. They hadn't been touched in so long that Ryan's hands were covered in dust.

"Then this is the perfect time to get drunk." He insisted. He slapped his hands together to get the dust of then moved back to the kitchen to grab some glasses, "Besides, I'm not forcing you to take seven shots before noon. Just have a drink, we'll play a board game and pass the time until the evening comes and we can go to sleep. I'm not sure if you've noticed but we are basically under house arrest because we don't want our scent to get carried by the wind and draw hundreds of guards to this place. We might as well try to have fun."

I laughed a little despite the anxiety that was pooling in my stomach, "Right, this isn't just a hoax to get me drunk so you can actually beat me at a board game?" I teased. I gave him a fake glare and reached for one of the cheap, scratched glasses. "Fine, I'll have one drink to keep you quiet, but no more." I didn't know it at the time, but that was going to be my last lie for the day.

Ryan never tried to force drinks on me while we played a very intense game of Monopoly, he continually changed out his drinks but he never even asked me if I wanted a refill. In fact, when I eventually got up and poured myself a cup of wine he appeared a little shocked for a split second, then shot me a half smile that shown with triumph.

"Hey, another drink in my system does not mean that you are going to win." I warned.

He just grinned and shrugged his shoulders.

Apparently I was wrong. After the two drinks I was starting to feel a little light headed and my focus was suddenly terrible. I found myself staring at Ryan's intricate tattoo more than I was looking at the board that Ryan was slowly dominating. I had never been drunk before- I mean my parents would absolutely not let me drink as it wasn't a regal pass time- but I could tell I wasn't actually drunk yet. Maybe a little tipsy with slightly impaired thought processing, but not drunk. And now, I wanted to get drunk.

"I win." Ryan announced two hours later.

"You do not!" I protested, staring at the board in shock. But he was right. He had won. He had completely and utterly obliterated me in this game. "Shit."

"Oh the princess swears, or is that just the hundred glasses of wine talking?" Ryan taunted. He was beaming down at the board when he started to pick up the pieces and disassemble the board.

"I have not had a hundred." I argued. But my cheeks flamed with embarrassment at his comment anyway. Once I had started drinking I had begun to feel nice and I hadn't wanted the feeling to go away, but now I had taken it too far and I had already downed two glasses of wine, one beer, and some sweet drink Ryan made me. It didn't seem like a lot at the time, but it was too much for my body to handle considering I had never built up an alcohol tolerance. I hadn't wanted to get to the point that I was at, it was an accident.

"I know, I was exaggerating." Ryan said, softening a little. He slid the monopoly box off the table and patted the couch cushion next to him, "Come sit with me."

I gave out a little sigh while I stood, slightly sore for our long trek yesterday, then I dawdled over and flopped on the couch next to him.

"Such grace." He mocked.

"You're smiling an awful lot right now."

"You have no idea how happy I am to be here with you and not have you constantly shouting that you need to go home, that your parents are going to kill me, or some other threat. Or, you know, your dad lurking around, just waiting to kill me or my beta." He explained. I noticed the way his hand moved, almost like he wanted to reach up and touch me, but then thought better of it.